They were flying last week.

John Maffei, The San  Diego Union high school expert, noted the many infractions and uneven play in the Western League showdown between Lincoln and Cathedral.

“It was choppy,” observed Maffei.

Perhaps that was because there was an officiating crew of seven instead of the standard six.  Play was interrupted 19 times because of a penalty.

With the  27-7 victory (coach David Dunn’s 100th) Lincoln remained No. 1  in the weekly Top 10 voting and likely clinched top seed in the Open Division playoffs. San Diego Section bosses will use the Calpreps.com ratings formula to seed the 64 postseason teams in five divisions.  Two weeks remain in the regular season.

San Pasqual’s Tony Corley also won his 100th, 41-6 over Rancho Buena Vista.  Closing in are Granite Hills’ Kellan Cobbs (99) and La Costa Canyon’s Sean Sovacool (97).

HELIX CONTINUES TO DOMINATE 

At 2-5 against a blood rival, Helix might have finally appeared ready to be taken when the Highlanders lined up against 4-3 Grossmont, which hadn’t won in this vintage East County rivalry since George H.W. Bush was in office in 1991.

Not yet, Foothillers.  The Scots beat them for the 29th consecutive time, 56-26.  The once “Little Brother” Helix now leads the series, 48-18.

Helix opened in September, 1951, with morning-afternoon, double-session classes at Grossmont while the Highlanders’ campus on University Avenue in La Mesa was under construction.

MAFFEI FEELS IT

John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 9 poll:
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous ranking in (italics).
Bold indicates latest. NR–Not ranked. MaxPreps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Torrey Pines (3-4, 16 points),  El Camino (4-3, 6), Imperial (8-0, 2), Valley Center (6-2, 1).

VOTING PANEL

Twenty-nine sportswriters, sportscasters, administrators from San Diego County, plus Max Preps.com.

• John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
• Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Kevin Farmer (Union-Tribune Freelance contributors).
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section).
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, Chase Izidor (KUSI, Channel 51).
• Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
• Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
• Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
• Tom Helmantoler, (Southern Conference advisor).
• Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
• Mike Dolan, Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends).
• Raymond Brown (sdfootball.net).
•  Bodie DeSilva, John Kentera, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Dennis Ackerman, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (Freelance contributors).

Number 1 Lincoln is at No. 2 Cathedral and unranked Scripps Ranch visits No. 10 University City  Friday with the winners the likely  champions in the Western and Eastern leagues.

By the numbers:

Lincoln is No. 1 in the San Diego Section Top 10 and 13^th in the state, according to MaxPreps.  Cathedral is No. 2 and No. 24, respectively.  Lincoln has a 57.8 Calpreps rating and Cathedral 46.5.

Lincoln coach David Dunn will be seeking his 100^th career victory.

A win by Cathedral would be coach Sean Doyle’s 238^th, tying Doyle with the late Bennie Edens, Point Loma’s coach from 1955-97, one year after Doyle’s appointment at the school then known as University of San Diego High on Kearny Mesa.

Cathedral leads the all-time series, 22-10, but Lincoln won, 40-14, in 2023.

Scripps Ranch and University City represent the fourth pairing of 7-0 teams since 1980, according to web master Henrik Jonson. Other similar matchups were Monte Vista-Mount Miguel in 1984, Cathedral-La Jolla in 1991, and Ramona-Valley Center in 2009.

Jonson also pointed out that 274 teams in County history have begun the season with 7-0 slates.

Scripps Ranch leads the all-time series, 10-3, but the Centurions won, 33-30, in 2023.  Falcons coach Marlon Gardinera is 52-29 since 2017 and Paul Lawrence is 27-17 at U.C. since ’21.

CENTURY HONOR

One has entered the Coach 100 Club.  Two are pounding on the door. Two others could use strong finishes in the regular season or playoffs, or wait till next year.

Forty-seven San Diego Section coaches have won at least 100 games, led by Herb Meyer, ensconced in the distant reach of the coaches’ universe with 339.

Jack Mashin of Grossmont won more than 100 games when the Foothillers were in the Southern Section. The careers of Meyer, Chick Embrey, Gene Edwards, Birt Slater, and Edens also overlapped with the Southern Section (see Coach 100 Club).

Records for 2024 are in parenthesis.

MAFFEI FEELS IT

John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 8 poll:
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous ranking in (italics).
Bold indicates latest. NR–Not ranked. MaxPreps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.

+Through Week 6.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Torrey Pines (3-4, 16 points), Scripps Ranch (7-0, 14). El Camino (4-3, 6) Imperial (8-0, 2), Valley Center (6-2, 1).

VOTING PANEL

Twenty-nine sportswriters, sportscasters, administrators from San Diego County, plus Max Preps.com.

• John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
• Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Kevin Farmer (Union-Tribune Freelance contributors).
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section).
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, Chase Izidor (KUSI, Channel 51).
• Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
• Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
• Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
• Tom Helmantoler, (Southern Conference advisor).
• Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
• Mike Dolan, Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends).
• Raymond Brown (sdfootball.net).
•  Bodie DeSilva, John Kentera, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Dennis Ackerman, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (Freelance contributors).

MAFFEI FEELS IT

John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 7 poll:
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous ranking in (italics).
Bold indicates latest. NR–Not ranked. MaxPreps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.

+Through Week 6.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
El Camino (4-2, 17 points), University City (6-0, 12), Brawley (6-0, 11) Mt. Carmel (5-1, 8)  Scripps Ranch (6-0, 6), Oceanside (3-3), Imperial (7-0, 2).

VOTING PANEL

Twenty-nine  sportswriters, sportscasters, administrators from San Diego County, plus Max Preps.com.

• • John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
  • Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Kevin Farmer (Union-Tribune Freelance contributors).
  • Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section).
  • Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, Chase Izidor (KUSI, Channel 51).
  • Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
  • Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
  • Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
  • Tom Helmantoler, (Southern Conference advisor).
  • Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
  • Mike Dolan, Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends).
  • Raymond Brown (SDfootball.net).
  •  Bodie DeSilva, John Kentera, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Dennis Ackerman, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (Freelance contributors).

No. 1 Lincoln is the only team in The San Diego Union’s Top 10 with two losses as action moves into the sixth week after many clubs took a mid-season bye.  The Hornets’ schedule is one of the most difficult in California and there’s still a game with legendary Southern Section opponent Los Alamitos this week and what figures to be a Western League championship showdown with Cathedral in Week 9.

The Hornets upped their record to 3-2 with a 49-19 win over the  Sacramento Grant Pacers, one of the top teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section. Coach David Dunn’s squad already has met 5-0 Las Vegas Arbor View (45-44 loss), the No. 2-ranked team in Nevada; 5-0 San Juan Capistrano JSerra (28-19 loss), No. 6 in California, and Henderson Coronado (51-14 win), No. 4 in Nevada.  There also is a 42-14 victory over Long Beach Poly.

Quarterback Akili Smith completed 6 of 13  passes for 144 yards and one touchdown last week and wide receiver Ty Olsen caught one touchdown pass to give Olsen 45 for his career, six with the Hornets and 39 at Del Norte, where he played three seasons before transferring this year.

Smith was able to employ another weapon when Junior Curtis, a transfer from Madison, became eligible after the mandatory CIF sit-out period of four games.  Curtis had 130 yards and two touchdowns in eight carries, and Aden Jackson scored twice and had 84 yards in 14 attempts.

Lincoln is  0-1 against the Los Alamitos Griffins, losing a 21-17 road game in 2021.

Cal-Hi Sports publisher Mark Tennis photographed Lincoln’s Akili Smith (left) and Ty Olsen after the Hornets’ 49-19 win at Sacramento Grant in Week 5.

MAFFEI FEELS IT

But CalPreps.com doesn’t and then it does (see below).

John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 6 poll: Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous ranking in (italics).
Bold indicates latest. NR–Not ranked. MaxPreps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
University City (5-0, 14 points), La Jolla (4-1, 9), Scripps Ranch (5-0, 3), Oceanside (3-3, 2), Brawley (5-0), Del Norte (3-2), Imperial (6-0), Mt. Carmel (4-1), Torrey Pines (2-3), 1 point each.

VOTING PANEL

Twenty-nine  sportswriters, sportscasters, administrators from San Diego County, plus Max Preps.com.

• • John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
  • Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Kevin Farmer (Union-Tribune Freelance contributors).
  • Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section).
  • Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, Chase Izidor (KUSI, Channel 51).
  • Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
  • Bodie DeSilva (ScorebookLive.com).
  • Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
  • Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
  • Tom Helmantoler, (Southern Conference advisor).
  • Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
  • Mike Dolan, Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends).
  • Raymond Brown (SDfootball.net).
  • John Kentera, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Dennis Ackerman, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (Freelance contributors).
    

CALPREPS.COM SHUTDOWN NOTICE:
eighth time since acquiring MaxPreps in 2007, CBS went back into breach and is willfully refusing for some unknown reason to act in a legal fashion and honor their legal/contractual obligations in terms of paying money owed to Calpreps.  We are out of funds at this point and have been forced to cease operations.

“As you’d expect, we are in the process of suing CBS to recover owed monies plus damages, but that will no doubt not be resolved until many months or years after the conclusion of the 2024 playoffs, so we encourage any section/state associations who were relying on our ratings in order to run your playoffs this season to apply any pressure you may have the pull to apply to the rogue CBS accounting department, to attempt to persuade them to finally start to act in accordance with federal contract law.  Thank you and we’re sorry it’s come to this, but frankly it was destined to never work with a company owned by CBS.  We hope to partner with a non-CBS owned company in future seasons, but it’s presumably not reasonable to expect that a deal could be struck with another company during the 2024 season, but if you are such a company and have interest, our ears are certainly open.”

Not long after that statement CalPreps changed course: “We have reached a quick resolution with MaxPreps, and the full site information will return in time for this weekend.”

MaxPreps.com’s computer ratings were used this week in lieu of CalPreps’.  The ratings of both sites usually are identical.

John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 5 poll:

Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous ranking in (italics).
Bold indicates latest. NR–Not ranked. Max Preps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.

OTHERS RECEIVING VO TES
La Jolla (4-1, 11 points), University City (4-0, 10), Mt. Carmel (4-1, 3), Scripps Ranch (5-0, 3)  Helix (2-2, 4).

VOTING PANEL

Thirty sportswriters, sportscasters, administrators from San Diego County, plus Max Preps.com.

• John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
• Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Kevin Farmer (Union-Tribune Freelance contributors).
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section).
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, Chase Izidor (KUSI, Channel 51).
• Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
• Bodie DeSilva (ScorebookLive.com).
• Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
• Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
• Tom Helmantoler, (Southern Conference advisor).
• Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
• Mike Dolan, Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends).
• Raymond Brown (SDfootball.net).
• John Kentera, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Dennis Ackerman, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (Freelance contributors).

The Trinity League forms a 30-mile stretch of Orange County, with side trips to State 55 and the area around I-605.

Bellflower St. John Bosco, Anaheim Servite, Santa Ana Mater Dei, Orange Lutheran, Rancho Santa Margarita, and San Juan Capistrano JSerra comprise the far-flung circuit, where it is a 43-mile trip from Bosco to JSerra and several others of at least 20 miles.

It has not been a good place to travel for San Diego Section squads or to have those schools come South.

Dating to 1957, schools that now constitute the Trinity League have a 24-10 advantage in head-head meetings.

Beginning with No. 1 Mater Dei, Cal-Hi Sports ranks teams from the Trinity 2, 3, 4, 5, and 12 this week.  Max Preps gives those teams ratings of 1,3,5,6,7, and 10.

Lincoln played JSerra last week at Southwestern College (the Hornets’ home field, Vic Player Stadium, is undergoing construction/repairs) and the Hornets, No. 1 here, were in the game but lost, 28-19.

The defeat was the 13^th in the last 15 meetings with the Northerners.

The on-and-off series:

*Southern Section Small Schools playoff.

**Southern California Division I playoff.

#At Southwestern College.

MAFFEI FEELS IT

John Maffei’s The San Diego Union Week 4 poll:

Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous ranking in (italics).
Bold indicates latest ranking. NR–Not ranked. Max Preps‘ and Cal-Hi Sports‘ are state rankings.

OTHERS RECEIVING VO TES
La Jolla (3-1, 10 points), Mt. Carmel (4-0, 8). Helix (2-2, 4).  University City (3-0, 1),

VOTING PANEL

Thirty sportswriters, sportscasters, administrators from San Diego County, plus Max Preps.com.

• John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
• Don Norcross, Steve Brand, Rick Hoff, Kevin Farmer (Union-Tribune Freelance contributors).
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (CIF San Diego Section).
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edmonds, John Carroll, Chase Izidor (KUSI, Channel 51).
• Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
• Bodie DeSilva (ScorebookLive.com).
• Braden Suprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
• Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
• Tom Helmantoler, (Southern Conference advisor).
• Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee).
• Mike Dolan, Joe Evangelist (San Diego Coaching Legends).
• Raymond Brown (SDfootball.net).
• John Kentera, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Dennis Ackerman, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (Freelance contributors).